


i hope i'm gonna be

by weareonceinalifetime



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - College/University, Forehead Kisses, Friends to Lovers, I'm, M/M, This was supposed to be a drabble, i mean by my definitions it's still close to drabble-length kind of???, i swear i'm writing ACTUAL THINGS but in the meantime have this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-21 08:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2462042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weareonceinalifetime/pseuds/weareonceinalifetime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Zayn kisses Liam on the forehead and one time Liam kisses Zayn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i hope i'm gonna be

**Author's Note:**

> Because Hayley prompted me for a drabble and I'm way too damn wordy for my own good.
> 
> Title is from I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) as covered by Sleeping At Last. Shoutout to Ginger for pointing me in the right direction for musical inspiration!
> 
> This is really just a silly little thing and also the first 5 + 1 I've ever written, so hopefully it's not too much of a disappointment. The setting is an American university, because this was really just intended to be a short thing without too much setting so I just went with what was most comfortable for me.

**I. September of Freshman Year**

 

Zayn has known Liam for less than eight hours, and he’s already tucking him into bed. The other boy is leaning heavily on Zayn, drunk on a few too many beers and the freedom of college. By all rights Liam’s roommate, a blond kid named Niall, should be the one doing this, especially on the first night of freshman orientation, but last Zayn had seen, Niall had been kind of busy making out with a girl who had blue hair and huge eyes, so somehow the task had fallen to him instead.

“C’mon, Liam,” Zayn says, tightening his grip on Liam’s waist, his fingers bunching in his t-shirt. “Five more steps.”

“I could just sleep on the floor,” Liam suggests with a giggle, his arm heavy around Zayn’s neck.

Zayn shakes his head. “Nope. Bed’s right there.”

For all his silliness, Liam is a fairly compliant drunk person, and with a little effort Zayn gets him settled in his bed, still in his jeans and t-shirt—it’s one thing to make sure he gets home okay, but undressing him is another thing entirely—with his dark blue duvet pulled up to his chin and his head resting on his Batman pillow.

“Okay, man?” Zayn asks, smoothing a hand over Liam’s shock of curls before he can stop himself.

Liam just nods sleepily, his eyes already drifting shut, lips parted a little as he breathes out. “G’night, Zayn.”

“Night, Liam,” Zayn whispers, and he finds himself brushing Liam’s hair off of his forehead and leaning down to drop a soft kiss there before quietly slipping out of the room.

 

**II. October of Sophomore Year**

 

Freshman year had been easy, or at least it had been easy compared to sophomore year. They’re all feeling the strain of harder classes, of longer papers and more difficult tests and mountains of homework that never seem to get smaller no matter how many hours they spend in a corner of the library with cups of black coffee. Breaks from the insanity are few and far between, and they're all tired.

“You ready, Liam?” Zayn asks, checking his reflection one last time in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom. Tonight’s not anything special, just a party at Niall’s frat, one he wouldn’t even be invited to if it wasn’t for the unlikely friendship he’d struck up with Niall freshman year, but it’s a chance to get out and forget about Faulkner and Twain and representations of the South in American Literature if just for one night, so he’s been looking forward to it all week.

Liam glances up from where he’s settled on the living room couch in the tiny apartment the five of them share, a pen tucked behind one ear and another between his teeth. His thick brows are furrowed into a frown, and he’s got a textbook spread open on his lap with highlighted pages of notes spread out all around him. “I can’t come,” he says, and Christ, Zayn can _hear_ the pout in his voice. “I totally forgot about this test, and if I don’t study all weekend I’m going to fail it, and . . .”

“It’s okay,” Zayn assures him quickly, stepping closer to cup the back of Liam’s neck with his hand. Liam leans in to the touch, closing his eyes for a moment, and Zayn takes the time to just look at him, to look at the boy who’s grown from the kid he had to practically carry home on their first night of orientation into his roommate and best friend. He’d come back from summer break with all his hair buzzed off and a newly muscled physique, but his eyes are still the same warm, kind brown Zayn loves, and he’s still his Liam.

“Get someone to do a shot for me?” Liam asks, opening his eyes again and smiling up at Zayn.

Zayn bends down and skims his lips across Liam’s forehead, pulling back immediately. He’d meant it as a friendly gesture, hadn’t even thought before doing it, but suddenly Liam’s face is flaming red, and he’s sure he’s flushed too. “’Course I will, babe. Good luck with the studying.”

 

**III. January of Junior Year**

 

He should have known better than to let Louis and Niall plan his birthday party.

Zayn doesn’t even know half the people crammed into their apartment to begin with, so he’s mostly stuck to the couch they’d moved from the center of the living room into the corner, perching on its arm and passing a joint back and forth between himself, Perrie, and Jesy. Louis and Harry are making out in the corner, while Niall actually has Jade on the makeshift dance floor he’d insisted they definitely needed in the middle of the living room and is swiveling his hips outrageously. Leigh-Anne had disappeared with her boyfriend a while ago, and Liam is—

“Liam!” Jesy cheers loudly, wriggling out of her spot between Zayn and Perrie and offering it to Liam with a flourish. “Here, sit next to your boy.”

Zayn tries to pretend that his heart doesn’t jump at the words _your boy_ in reference to him and Liam.

“Hey,” Liam says, squeezing onto the couch and tilting his head toward Zayn. “Happy birthday.”

Zayn grins widely, placing both hands on Liam’s face and drawing the other boy closer to him, smacking a sloppy kiss onto his forehead. “Thanks, babe,” he laughs.

Liam just laughs with him, slinging an arm around his shoulders and reaching for the joint Perrie’s offering to him.

Zayn thinks he’s never had a better birthday.

 

**IV. April of Junior Year**

 

“Liam?” Zayn asks, poking his head through the half-open doorway of Liam’s room in their shared apartment. Liam doesn’t actually respond, but the lump huddled under a pile of blankets on his bed stirs and coughs a little, so Zayn pushes the rest of the way into the room. “Harry made soup for you.”

At that, Liam pulls the covers off of his head and offers Zayn a weak smile. “What kind?”

Zayn sits gingerly on the edge of the bed, allowing Liam to snuggle into his side a little. “Chicken noodle, I think. You hungry?”

Liam nods, sitting up slowly and reaching for the bowl. “Thanks for bringing it to me. You’re the best.”

“Best friends, right?” Zayn asks with a shrug. “It’s, like, part of the job description.”

“Probably,” Liam agrees, spooning some soup into his mouth. “How was class? Did your crazy prof do anything interesting?”

Zayn snickers. “He threatened to throw a chair at Louis.”

Liam nearly spits out how soup. “He what?”

“It’s not like Louis didn’t deserve it,” Zayn concedes.

“Still.” Liam furrows his brow. “I don’t want people threatening to throw chairs at Louis.”

Impulsively, Zayn leans over and kisses Liam quickly on the forehead. “You’re cute.”

Liam frowns. “I’m _intimidating_.”

“You’re cute,” Zayn repeats, sliding an arm over Liam’s shoulders and moving the now-empty soup bowl to the bedside table. “Get some sleep, sicky.”

 

**V. February of Senior Year**

 

“I’m okay,” Liam insists when Zayn flops down on the couch next to him with a giant bowl of popcorn and both _Captain America_ films on DVD. “Seriously, you don’t have to do all this. It’s just a breakup.”

“Shut up and eat your popcorn,” Zayn orders, stretching an arm over Liam’s broad shoulders and smiling a little when his best friend nestles into him, humming contentedly. “We’re mourning your relationship.”

“It’s not even a big deal,” Liam laughs, but his voice has turned serious when he says, “I just kind of thought we’d last longer, you know?”

Zayn’s heart kicks painfully in his chest, and he squeezes Liam a little tighter, hitting pause on the movie before it can really start rolling. “You’ll find someone else.”

“Dunno.” Liam nuzzles his face into Zayn’s neck, his lips forming the words against Zayn’s skin when he mumbles, “Maybe I’m just not meant to be with anyone.”

Instead of answering, Zayn drops a gentle kiss on Liam’s forehead, letting his lips linger as he whispers, “Sure you are, babe. Gotta be patient, though.”

“Love you,” Liam says softly, reaching for the remote and pressing play on the movie again.

 

**\+ Graduation**

 

They’ve just graduated, and Zayn should feel free, weightless, like he’s completed something huge. Instead, all he can feel is a tightness in his body, a sense of urgency.

He’s got to find Liam.

He turns around and there he is, beaming from ear to ear. His graduation cap is clutched in one hand, his diploma in the other, and he’s headed straight for Zayn, swooping him up in a giant hug the moment he’s close enough. “We did it,” he practically yells in Zayn’s ear, his breath hot on his neck.

“Yeah,” Zayn says quietly. Liam sets him down again, arms still tight around his waist, and for a moment, Zayn just looks at him. His pink lips are quirked into a happy grin, his eyes warm and happy, and before Zayn can give himself time to second-guess his decision, he tugs Liam into a fierce kiss.

At first, Liam freezes, and Zayn is already moving away, already planning to chalk it up to graduation-induced temporary insanity, when the other boy makes a strangled noise and kisses back eagerly, sliding his tongue against the seam of Zayn’s lips until they’re moaning into each others’s mouths. They pull apart, both breathing hard, and Liam is grinning even harder than before.

“I had to do that,” Zayn tells him hesitantly. “Just . . . before I called college over for good, I had to do that.”

“I’m glad you did,” Liam whispers, and Zayn may have just graduated, may be starting an internship next week, may have the whole world spread out before him, but in this moment the only thing that matters is Liam’s hands, Liam’s eyes, Liam’s mouth.

Slowly, Liam puts one hand on either side of Zayn’s face, ducks his head, and presses a tender kiss to Zayn’s forehead.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading, loves <333
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at brunettenialls.


End file.
